Medatrocity

Medatrocity is a zine from Berkeley, California, U.S.A. made by Samiya Bird and her friends.

The publication's epicenter is the Caffe Mediterraneum on Telegraph Ave. The zine's name is a combination of the cafe's name and "atrocity," signifying the conditions of working there as Samiya did during the zine's inception. The name of the cafe "Mediterraneum," references a state of being between two worlds. The cafe itself exists between a burgeoning yuppie culture precipitated by the University of California Berkeley campus three blocks away, and an ever changing street culture replete with activists, homeless, drug dealers, and insane people. The zine then acts as a chronicle that allows the disparaging ends to coexist. The publication saw it's first issue in the Autumn of 2009, it generally makes a print run of over 100 copies and gets rare shelf space in nearby bookstores. The zine can also be purchased in the cafe-depending on the time of day.

The contents of each issue also represent both the high brow and low brow unique to Berkeley's culture. Carefully composed fiction and poetry will accompany acrimoninous rants and actual reprints from the graffiti in the cafe's toilet. Aging bohemians and artsy students along with traveling crusty punks all are given space. Some noted contributors include; hippy poet Julia Vinograd, artist and zine maker Moby (Down and Out in Berkeley and Oakland), Robert Eggplant, Aaron Cometbus, Comatulid, Heather Wreckage and comic artist Joey.

Each issue editor Samiya Bird writes insightful pieces and interviews various people who would otherwise get overlooked. She decorates the whole zine with her style of ornate collages as well as humorous comics. Her first issue she wrote a heartfelt piece on the life and death of Caffe Med's customer BN Duncan, himself a zine editor with the early 1980's publication The Tele Times.